Colorado was once at the national vanguard of expanding school choice. Now we can be a leader again by protecting our school choice rights in the state constitution and voting yes on Amendment 80.    

Most people believe choice, competition and accountability are the core of any successful enterprise. But for most of our nation’s history, that did not apply to our education system.

Like many people who started elementary school in the 1960s, my family had far fewer choices in education than Coloradans have today — and certainly very little within the public school system. Most kids went to the school they were assigned by the local school district based on our home address. 

This system resulted in schools having a geographically guaranteed student body. And if the education provided by your assigned school didn’t fit your needs, or was substandard, the only option the majority of families had was to endure it. 

Families had little leverage to push successfully for increased educational quality or accountability. A guaranteed market breeds complacency and mediocrity. 

The system needed a shakeup. 

In the 1990s, Colorado was one of the pioneering states in the concept of permitting families to choose different public schools beyond the one they were assigned. This was followed by a charter school law in 1993, which was authored by then-Sen. Bill Owens, a Republican who went on to serve as governor and Democratic Sen. Peggy Kerns. It was signed by Gov. Roy Romer, also a Democrat.

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Imagine a time when education reform enjoyed a broad, bipartisan consensus. There was agreement across the political spectrum the comfortable old ways of teaching kids were simply insufficient for their diverse needs. 

My wife Holly and I had four children, each of whom were different. At one point, we had three children in three different public elementary schools. We used this law to ensure each received the education they needed — and each succeeded. Today, our four children have a total of nine degrees and each is gainfully employed.

Today, 40% of Colorado students in public schools attend a school of choice, according to Ready Colorado. Open Enrollment is the most popular option. And 135,000 families choose public charter schools. 

Despite the very significant popularity of school choice, the bipartisan support for a system of competition and accountability is eroding. Today’s hyper-partisan political environment threatens many good ideas — including school choice. 

Parents, teachers and students must face the reality the same groups that have been uncomfortable with choice and competition for decades, and that have resisted every effort to open new fronts for educational freedom, are not going to stop until they turn back the clock.

They are working at the state Capitol, and within the Colorado Board of Education, to find ways to reduce or eliminate families’ school options, most notably charter schools. We cannot let that happen.   

Amendment 80, on the ballot this fall, would give Coloradans a strong shield to stop the never-ending efforts to unravel school choice. We can put our right to school choice in the state constitution. 

This amendment creates no new programs and costs taxpayers nothing. It doesn’t change the way schools are funded. It merely provides constitutional protections for the rights we have today. 

So why do this?

Today, your right to open enrollment, or charter schools or homeschooling can be diminished, damaged or destroyed with the passage of a state statute. In contrast, it is a tall order to amend the Colorado constitution and that is what would be required going forward to attack school choice.   

Ironically, the only groups that say educational freedom is not at risk, and not needed, are the groups opposing Amendment 80. That’s enough evidence for me to be an enthusiastic supporter. 

As the saying goes, we have not come this far just to come this far. The need for a robust education system, with lots of options for families, is more important now than ever. The demands of a globally competitive economy require a well-educated, well-trained workforce. 

We cannot go back, and the best insurance against putting our education system in reverse is to protect the rights we have in the state constitution. Please join me in supporting Amendment 80. Generations of Coloradans who will continue to benefit from school choice will thank us.

Wayne Williams is a former Colorado Secretary of State, El Paso County Commissioner and member of the Colorado Springs City Council.